Dak Prescott and the 10 most underrated college football quarterbacks of all time
By Ethan Lee
No. 3: Underrated college football quarterbacks – Tim Rattay, Louisiana Tech
While winning at Marshall and Mississippi State are both arduous tasks for anybody to take on, winning in Ruston, Louisiana is no laughing matter.
In the three seasons, Tim Rattay was the quarterback at Louisiana Tech, the Bulldogs found plenty of success, earning plenty of wins, and Rattay demonstrated just how good he could be.
After transferring to La Tech, Rattay got right to work, throwing for 3,881 yards and 34 touchdowns against 10 picks in 1997 all while completing 61.4 percent of his passes. That sort of offensive success led to the Bulldogs winning nine games, including notable ones like Louisiana Tech’s wins over California, Boise State, and Alabama.
In 1998, Louisiana Tech won fewer games, but the Bulldogs’ quarterback didn’t regress at all. In fact, he only got better. That season, La Tech won just six games, having been blown out by No. 4 Nebraska, No. 18 Texas A&M, and No. 11 Tulane.
And despite all of those losses, Rattay showed that he could throw the ball and find pretty much instant success. Rattay threw for 4,943 yards, 46 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions. He also completed 68 percent of his passes. All those stats, except the number of interceptions Rattay threw, happened to be career bests for the quarterback.
During Rattay’s senior season, the Bulldogs got back to their winning ways, claiming eight victories in 1999. As it turned out, Rattay had a pretty solid season as well, and he threw for 3,922 yards, 35 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. The Bulldogs were able to beat No. 18 Alabama in Birmingham and won several games thanks to their powerful offense, which was led by their star quarterback.
As it currently stands, Rattay has the 13th most passing touchdowns in a career in FBS history with 115 and the 23rd most passing yards in a career in FBS history with 12,746.